Maggie Dunn, 17, and Caroline Gill, 16, of Brusly, La., were pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities. Liam Dunn, Maggie’s brother and a 20-year-old student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, was in critical condition Tuesday morning, according to Baton Rouge-based station WBRZ.
Cauthron, 42, was arrested Sunday, and authorities charged him with two counts of negligent homicide and one count of negligent injuring, Clayton said.
“This cop was grossly negligent,” Clayton told The Post on Tuesday. “The law does not give you the authority to blow through a red light and endanger the lives of others. You have to stop and let those other cars go.”
Each count of negligent homicide could carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $5,000, according to Louisiana law. If the officer is convicted of negligent injuring, he could serve a maximum sentence of six months in prison and/or pay a fine up to $1,000.
Richard “Ricky” Anderson, the chief of police in Addis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Tuesday. Cauthron’s employment status with the Addis Police Department remains unclear, but Clayton told WBRZ that Anderson indicated to him that the officer has been placed on administrative leave. It’s unclear whether Cauthron has an attorney.
The string of events that led to the fatal crash began Saturday in Baton Rouge, when Tyquel Zanders, 24, allegedly entered his family’s home and stole a 2016 Nissan Altima, according to the Advocate.
“He had gone into his parents’ house, shoved his dad and had taken the car,” Clayton told The Post.
Police began pursuing him in East Baton Rouge after Zanders did not pull over and ran red lights in a chase that reached speeds of up to 110 mph, according to the district attorney’s office. Once the chase crossed the Mississippi River Bridge, it became the jurisdiction of authorities in West Baton Rouge, Clayton said.
Cauthron, who joined the Addis Police Department in February after a stint with the Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff’s Office, was among the officers in the area to respond to calls for backup in their pursuit of Zanders. Addis, less than 10 miles southwest of Baton Rouge, is a municipality with about 7,100 people, according to a 2021 Census Bureau estimate.
As Cauthron sped after Zanders, his police cruiser ran through an intersection on Louisiana Highway 1 that had had a red light for about 20 seconds, WBRZ reported. Six or seven cars were driving through the intersection when Cauthron’s police cruiser burst through to chase down Zanders, Clayton told The Post.
When the police car struck the vehicle occupied by the girls and Dunn’s brother, the force from the crash throttled the car to the median of the highway. Neither the Dunns nor Gill, who were on their way to a store, were involved in the alleged theft that sparked the police chase, according to charging documents.
After investigators arrived at the scene, they reviewed footage at the intersection and dash-cam footage from Cauthron’s cruiser, Clayton said. Louisiana law says that although officers are allowed to speed and run red lights while in pursuit of a suspect, police must slow down or stop to ensure that they are not endangering other people’s lives.
Cauthron was being held on $100,000 bond Tuesday. Clayton told The Post that he expects to convene a grand jury in Cauthron’s case by the end of the month.
While the district attorney said he agreed with the decision to arrest the Addis officer, he questioned why Baton Rouge police chased Zanders in the first place.
“I can’t think of any circumstances where cops go 100 miles an hour in small-town USA to chase a suspect,” he said to The Post. “[Zanders] was either going to run out of gas or money. All we had to do was wait for him to come back.”
Police detained Zanders after his car stalled, according to the district attorney’s office. He faces charges of home invasion, theft of a vehicle and aggravated flight, according to the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, as well as two counts of manslaughter for the deaths of Maggie Dunn and Gil. Each count of manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, according to attorneys in the state. It’s unclear whether Zanders has an attorney.
The New Year’s Eve tragedy has rocked the small community of Brusly in recent days. Classmates and teachers remembered Dunn, a junior, and Gill, a sophomore, as best friends, honor students and cheerleaders at Brusly High School. Principal Walt Lemoine described the losses as “far-reaching in our school community,” noting that Dunn’s mother and sister work at the school and that Gill has siblings in the school system.
“They were just what you would want your daughter to be like,” Lemoine told The Post. “They just touched so many people. This tragedy just seems to hit in a different way than anything we’ve ever had.”
The cheerleading team posted a photo of the girls on Facebook and urged people to “share any memories or pictures you have of Maggie and Caroline and how they made you smile.”
“Their enthusiasm and bright smiles will be missed more than can be imagined,” the post reads.
R.I.P 🙏🏾 Maggie Dunn, 17, and Caroline Gill, 15, we’re killed in a neglectful high speed chase that lead to the teenagers death. Officer responsible, David Cauthron, 42. was arrested by the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office and faces charges of negligent homicide! pic.twitter.com/N25g5y9ggv
— Kenny Akers (@KeneAkers) January 2, 2023
The school held a candlelight vigil for the girls on Monday night before returning to class Tuesday morning. Lemoine estimated that 500 people showed up to remember the victims and pray for Liam Dunn’s recovery.
Jennifer Perkins, the high school’s cheerleading coach, reflected to Baton Rouge-based WAFB how Maggie Dunn and Gill would be on TikTok, just having fun with each other, during practice. The coach then said she was devastated knowing she would not see the smiles from her “wonderful girls” again.
“It’s just a nightmare that you haven’t woken up from,” Perkins told the TV station. “It seems unreal every day, like this cannot be happening here.”